Weary Travellers

                                                     Home where my thought's escaping
                                                     Home where my music's playing....
                                                                       ----Simon and Garfunkel

Whew!!  What a great trip.  We are just back from a week in southern Ontario.  We did not get to see everyone we  wanted to see, but we did catch up with great friends we have not seen for a long time.

It takes nerves of steel to pack up three children, load them into the van (We used to do it in a four door sedan) and drive 700 km--in one day.  Before we had the van the trip was taking about 11 hours.  Now we are back to about 8-9 hours.  My poor kids have learned to hold their bladders.

For anyone thinking  about doing this, I would like to share with you the top then things this trip has taught me.  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Be prepared for the unexpected--You never know for example when a friend you haven't seen in six years will reappear in your life, spend the day with you, then sleep on your hotel room floor that night.

2. Be grateful for the amazing friends you have--The ones who are kind enough to meet you outside of Old Navy and point out that the shirt you thought was one of your best has baby vomit on it. The new bra you bought to go with the shirt does not fit resulting in something called "Muffin Boob".  Be grateful for the friends who are kind enough to spend the whole day with you and pretend not to notice. Mostly be grateful you get to spend time with them.

3.Your children--especially the baby-- will decide that sleep is not necessary on vacation and 2 am is perfectly fine bedtime and 8am is still fine to get up, except when you have somewhere to be in the morning. Then the kids --again especially the baby-- will decide to sleep until 10 or 11am.

4. Getting your hair done while in the city is not a privilege, its a right. If that means your husband has to entertain the kids while waiting for you, so be it.

5. Feeding your kids slushies at a baseball game pretty much ruins your chances for a quiet-ish dinner with reasonably well behaved children. (It also ruins bedtime)

6.  Letting your baby eat soft foods from a net on a stick looks disgusting, but does buy you enough time to eat your dinner and chat with family (The net is hard to clean, but hey, whatever doesn't kill you can only make you stronger, right?)

7. There will be no romantic time with your spouse--see point #3

8. No matter how many times your family has told you they checked behind the couch and under the bed of the hotel, you are guaranteed to leave something behind--for example the new plush rabbits the kids were super excited to bring on the trip.

9. Sometimes luck is on your side and on your return home you happen to come across the same rabbits for $5--way less then you paid for them and way cheaper then having the hotel ship them back

10. Finally be thankful that you get to go on vacation, spend time with your family, visit friends, eat in restaurants, and see your kids happy. Travel builds character and creates life long memories.  What is your favorite childhood vacation?